The term “Primary healthcare” is being replaced by “Outpatient Services“. Since the scope of the outpatient medical services has significantly broadened, the outpatient healthcare services have recently been classified into:
- Primary outpatient services center includes and is limited to providing basic healthcare services such as general practitioner (GP) consultation, dental consultation, laboratory specimen collection service, and basic radiology. The center covers common medical and dental consultations and follow-ups such as a well-baby clinic, antenatal care, vaccination, and minor complaints, ailments, or discomforts, and provides healthcare education to the population serviced by the center.
- Secondary outpatient services center in addition to the primary outpatient services it includes the provision of consultations and diagnostic services in certain specialties such as ophthalmology, ENT, Internal medicine and its subspecialties, pediatrics, obstetrics/gynecology, surgery, dentistry, and its subspecialties, and others. Laboratory specimen collection and advanced radiology such as ultrasound, mammography, and panoramic x-ray are also provided.
- Tertiary outpatient clinics provide the services of secondary outpatient and one-day surgery.